knight76 Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 I recently went fishing and caught 5 fish, all too small to keep. All little bream. The place was Swansea channel near the RSL for anyone who knows the area. Fishing the incoming tide from 2 hours before dawn till an hour after. The tide moves along fairly quickly there and takes your line downstream very quickly. Should I be using a heavier sinker to get the bait to the bottom faster or be happy to let it sail down stream. Are the bigger bream down lower or is it pot luck? I am slowly getting better at this fishing game. 1st outing caught sweet FA, Second outing got some little bream, third outing will be this weekend, same spot again. Oh, and whilst I am typing this topic out, what is your strategy on hooking them once they start biting. Do you just wait for them to take the bait, or try to jag them somehow? Thanks for any assistance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davemmm Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 I dont know the area but your sinker size will vary with what you want to do. Give a heavier one a go as the bream quite often are around the bottom. What the problem then is you may not feel the little bites or the bream may feel the heavier lead and spit the bait. The other way is to go with a light sinker and let the current take your bait for a ride. Fish don't sit in fast flowing water for very long. If it was me I would be fishing just out of the fast running water. Maybe where it runs around a point and creates a little eddy or where the channel drops away and the flow spreads out so it doesnt have as much force. If you were a fish you would wait for the current to bring you the food not fight the tide all day. As for striking its no point trying to jag the fish by hitting on every little touch. Let them have a go at it before you whack them otherwhise you are pulling your hook away before it is in their mouth properly. Dave ps mind you I haven't been catching many bream lately Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewgaffer Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 ..........Should I be using a heavier sinker to get the bait to the bottom faster or be happy to let it sail down stream. Are the bigger bream down lower or is it pot luck?...... ........what is your strategy on hooking them once they start biting. Do you just wait for them to take the bait, or try to jag them somehow?...... ........Thanks for any assistance. Hi knight76 If the current is running fast, you should be using a sinker large enough to hold bottom..... Naturally there will be a permanent pull on the line by the current and a bend in the rod tip when fishing into the current in places like Swansea channel and the Hawkesbury..... you can still detects bites thru the bent rod tip and look out for hook up movement/s and in order monitor the bait situation as well.... Otherwise, if you fish too light, the bait will finish up in midwater at best for a short period and eventually the whole rig will be pulled to the surface by the line bloom out.... Most fish will pull on the bait all the same and hook themselves and there still are side to side angles etc that you can detect the direction of the run and strike smoothly to set the hooks when, either the rod starts to bend and stay that way or when you see the line taking up fast up the surface a second time if you are using large live baits that a fish is in the process of swallowing.... Another way is to fish against the current and keep letting slack out and wind in as the line comes back to the boat.... A favourite way of mine is to anchor say fifty meters away again with a hands on rod and let a live bait out towards one of the bridge pylons at Swansee into the current while holding your snapper rig type running sinker in your hand and judge everything just right and drop your running sinker down separately with a bit of slack behind it and, being pulled down at both ends, the bait should settle alongside the front side of the pylon you are aiming at..... Hope this helps Cheers jewgaffer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knight76 Posted April 27, 2009 Author Share Posted April 27, 2009 Hi knight76 If the current is running fast, you should be using a sinker large enough to hold bottom..... Naturally there will be a permanent pull on the line by the current and a bend in the rod tip when fishing into the current in places like Swansea channel and the Hawkesbury..... you can still detects bites thru the bent rod tip and look out for hook up movement/s and in order monitor the bait situation as well.... Otherwise, if you fish too light, the bait will finish up in midwater at best for a short period and eventually the whole rig will be pulled to the surface by the line bloom out.... Most fish will pull on the bait all the same and hook themselves and there still are side to side angles etc that you can detect the direction of the run and strike smoothly to set the hooks when, either the rod starts to bend and stay that way or when you see the line taking up fast up the surface a second time if you are using large live baits that a fish is in the process of swallowing.... Another way is to fish against the current and keep letting slack out and wind in as the line comes back to the boat.... A favourite way of mine is to anchor say fifty meters away again with a hands on rod and let a live bait out towards one of the bridge pylons at Swansee into the current while holding your snapper rig type running sinker in your hand and judge everything just right and drop your running sinker down separately with a bit of slack behind it and, being pulled down at both ends, the bait should settle alongside the front side of the pylon you are aiming at..... Hope this helps Cheers jewgaffer Thanks for that, I will try a larger sinker to get the bait down the bottom. I was casting in to the right, and in seconds the line was way to the left. As soon as the bait arrived further to my left I would get bites. I think fish were chasing it down stream and when the line stopped its progress they attacked it. If using a bigger sinker, should I use a swivel to stop the sinker a half meter or so up the line to hide sinker from the fish more? This was land based off a boat wharf near the RSL. Using prawns as bait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewgaffer Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 ....If using a bigger sinker, should I use a swivel to stop the sinker a half meter or so up the line to hide sinker from the fish more? ....This was land based off a boat wharf near the RSL. Using prawns as bait. You could also go down alonside the shops where the Chinese restaraunt on the Sydney side at the very last street before you cross Swansea Bridge and fish the pylons to the right of you landbased with a beach rod or two.... to get casting distance, Iwould use a shorter say 60cm leader length from a swivel with a soft lumo bead above the swivel to prevent percussion on the knot from the heavier round sinker you'll need to be able to handle the current after the stillwater, as the current picks up to run out.... but you should allow for fishing a fairly long stillwater period when you start off.... Cheers jewgaffer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bass_beginner Posted April 27, 2009 Share Posted April 27, 2009 GDAY mate hows it goin whats been happening? hey man ive fished the breakweall at swansea and tbh ive had most of my success later int he day ive never got much more than pickers in the morning but with some berley from about 830 to 930 onwards i seem to come across a school of fish salmon and tailor and some good bream however warning to the wise keep som heavier line for leader on hand cos if the leatheries rock upu mite need to have some heavier leader otherwise ull feel more like a charity store than a fisherman withg the tackle ull be losing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knight76 Posted April 7, 2015 Author Share Posted April 7, 2015 Been a long while since I was on here. I gave up after a while, just a combination of getting busy, no-one to fish with and inexperience setting me back. My son recently had his 10th birthday and we bought him a fishing rod as he was keen to go fishing after an outing with his cub scout troop. Went out with him last weekend and caught 4 undersize bream. 2 each so he caught his first ever fish. Snapped a pic and threw it back, funny thing is he hooked it by the tail lol. Now back researching this fishing thing again. My current rig setup is on 6' rods running 4kg mono main line, with 4kg fluro leader joined by swivel. Leader is about 1m long, and have a size 1 sinker on but can change this depending on the tide current. Have been looking in to spots in and around Swansea to try out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austral Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 try fishing in shallower water. about 1-2m deep up on the sand/ weed beds.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camo1808 Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 Hey mate of you head further out the channel heafing to the bar towards the marine rescue like right next to it. (Access via caves beach) there is a nice sandy/weedy spot which has alot calmer water due to the breakwall. Monster bream and whiting in there. Land based you can only cast to a max of 1-2m i will snap a photo of it on google maps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camo1808 Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camo1808 Posted April 8, 2015 Share Posted April 8, 2015 Sorry didnt know my other comment didnt post. Spot A is where you have been fishing spot B is where you need drive to and spot X is where you need walk the shore line and fish. Very quality spot. Well atleast has been for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knight76 Posted April 16, 2015 Author Share Posted April 16, 2015 (edited) Thanks Austral and Camo1808 for the tips, and especially Camo for the location. The son and I actually went out last night and fished from the break wall up at point B. Got there about 5pm and fished it for a about 1.5 hours. Got bites early on but nothing for half an hour so we moved on but headed home not long after. It was towards the end of high tide I believe last night. We did get to enjoy the beautiful sunset though Was using servo prawns for bait, and I tried cut squid tubes bought from co-op, I cut these in to approx. inch wide strips and tried a few casts with the entire length of the squid tube trailing the hook, and also a half length tube with the hook through it a few times. Got a few bites on that, but to me it seems too tough, I left it out for a fair while and when reeled in there was a few chunks missing but clearly not what they wanted to eat whole. The prawns were ok with the usual missing bait but after a while the bites died completely. I'm thinking of trying the chicken thigh fillet with garlic that I read about as a bait. It seems to be popular. I've also though of grabbing a lure and seeing how that goes. It's difficult fishing with a 10 year old once it gets dark in areas with no light. I am thinking of starting fishing at about 2pm, fishing until about 5 as the sun goes down. Maybe with some chicken filet, and cut pilchards as bait this time. Also thinking of going to lighter line, maybe 2kg mono with similar fluro leader. Thanks again for the tips. Edited April 16, 2015 by knight76 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbu Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 Buy some banana prawns from woolies, peel them and cut into small chunks that fit on a size 4 baitholder hook... I like the tail end the most as you can slide a 3cm long section all the way on to the hook and it looks most natural. Oh and ditch the sinker and go unweighted if you can. Make sure there is always a bit of slack in your line ... Enough for the fish to run without resistance before you strike, but little enough that you can still perceive subtle bites and takes. The bream will line up for that, plus your hookup rate will be much higher than when using a sinker, where most fish will sense something is amiss and you will generally have your bait stolen. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knight76 Posted April 17, 2015 Author Share Posted April 17, 2015 Thanks for the tips Jimbu. I won't get out for a fish this weekend, too busy. Probably aim to get out the next weekend to try these tips out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitchie18092 Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Buy some banana prawns from woolies, peel them and cut into small chunks that fit on a size 4 baitholder hook... I like the tail end the most as you can slide a 3cm long section all the way on to the hook and it looks most natural. Oh and ditch the sinker and go unweighted if you can. Make sure there is always a bit of slack in your line ... Enough for the fish to run without resistance before you strike, but little enough that you can still perceive subtle bites and takes. The bream will line up for that, plus your hookup rate will be much higher than when using a sinker, where most fish will sense something is amiss and you will generally have your bait stolen. Good luck! Couldn't agree more, lightly weighted (or unweighted if possible) peeled banana prawns from woolies should do the damage. Bit off topic but went for dinner tonight at woolloomooloo wharf - Couldn't believe the amount of bream sitting idle in the top half of the water column. Literally 50+ just cruising around near moorings. Bit of unweighted bread or even a hot chip and I think you would be in business - think I'll have to give it a crack soon! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knight76 Posted April 20, 2015 Author Share Posted April 20, 2015 I'll definitely try the Banana prawns next outing. Hopefully he can catch something worthy of taking home to brag to mum about :-) I'll take the prawns and some chicken thigh garlic mix to try also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knight76 Posted June 27, 2015 Author Share Posted June 27, 2015 (edited) Finally got a chance to get out today and have another shot with the boy. Bought half kilo of Banana Prawns which I now figure was way too much, prob just go for 200 - 250g next time. Also picked up some servo prawn along the road with ice to make a slurry, just in case we manage to actually catch something this time. Got to the place Camo suggested around 3:30 and stayed there till just on 6pm. The first hour and a half we could hardly get a bite. Was on the incoming tide, a breeze blowing in to our faces. Tried no sinker at first but with wind blowing in to our faces could not cast out far enough without the sinker, so had to add a small sinker. With the sun setting I hooked a just legal bream, right on 25cm. Not 5 minutes later the boy hooked a just legal trevally. Both caught on the servo prawn. They weren't touching the banana prawn today. Got nothing else after that, we might of scared the fish away with our victory cheers lol. Thanks again for the tips here guys, was great seeing my son land his first legal size fish. Edited June 27, 2015 by knight76 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest123456789 Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 In my view it sounds like your rig, bait, time of day and tide etc are all spot on. I'd keep trying different spots until you find a place that has bigger bream. Personally I favour areas where the water is as deep as possible that can be accessed from the shore. Nice catch BTW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baza246 Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 Use servo prawns, peel the shell off, thread the hook from tail towards the head. Pull the head off squeeze the head juice on the meatiest part of the bait cast him out. Has worked wonders for me over the years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now